Season 4

Episode 6: The Doctor's Daughter

TheTARDIS careened and dipped and banged through the vortex, her passengers in the console room clinging desperately to whatever they could to maintain their balance. The Doctor tried every button he could reach but the only reaction from the sentient ship was a shower of sparks.

"What the hell's it doing?" Donna shouted.

The Doctor shook his head. "Controls aren't working!"

As reached for a lever, he fell to the floor just as Rose came running into the room, maintaining her odd balance as usual.

"Why's she so upset?" she called out, moving to the time rotor and resting her cheek against it while leaning over the console.

"I don't know where we're going," her husband replied, "but our hands are very excited about it!"

"I thought that was just some freaky alien thing! You telling me those are yours?" Donna demanded incredulously.

"Well..." he hedged, trying to maintain some dignity while they veered again.

"They got cut off," Martha shouted to her new friend. "At different times, but they each grew a new one!"

Donna looked between the pair. "You are completely... impossible!"

"Not impossible," Rose laughed, moving around the console, "just... a bit unlikely!"

She reached the Doctor's side as he grasped a lever and started to pull.

"Not that one!" Rose gasped.

He pulled it anyway, and the TARDIS made one last rebellious explosion, sparks flying everywhere. The four of them fell backwards, the Doctor landed in the chair next to the console, Rose in his lap. The two of them laughed, getting up rather slowly and completely missing the knowing looks passed between the two other women who were steadying themselves. After the couple looked at their companions, they bolted towards the door and outside. After exiting, they looked around curiously.

It seemed to be an underground tunnel of some kind – littered with destroyed technology and old equipment. The two of them, soon followed by Donna and Martha, began picking their way along the tunnel.

"Why would the TARDIS bring us here?" the Doctor asked his wife, even though he sometimes hated admitting that she was closer to his beloved ship than he was.

She shrugged. "She's looking for someone important, that's all I can get from her."

Martha grinned at Donna. "Oh, I love this bit."

The redhead smirked teasingly. "Thought you wanted to go home?"

Martha laughed a little. "I know, but all the same..."

Rose glanced back as the Doctor was trying to orient himself. She looked back in time to see him lick his palms and stare ahead.

"Did you just taste the dirt again?" she asked accusingly.

"It's that feeling you get..." the black woman said slowly.

"Like you swallowed a hamster?" Donna snerked.

There was a movement nearby that drew their attention, soldiers heading in their direction.

"Don't move, stay where you are! Drop your weapons," one of them called out, as they all pointed their guns at the TARDIS crew who raised their hands to show they were unarmed.

"We're not armed! Look, no weapons. Never any weapons. We're safe," the Doctor tried to reassure the men.

"Look at their hands," one of the soldiers said to the man who was obviously in charge. "They're clean."

The leader nodded. "Alright, process them! Start with the blonde first."

The two soldiers moved forward and grabbed Rose by the upper arms and dragged her toward a strange machine. The Doctor jumped forward to receive a face full of the leader's gun.

"Oi, oi! What's wrong with clean hands?! And let her go!"

"Doctor, calm down," she called back to him. "I'll be fine. If they wanted to shoot us, they would have already."

"What's going on?" Martha asked, pressing forward, full of worry for the woman who was like a sister to her.

They grabbed Rose's hand, the same one she was scarred with from the bonding with the Doctor and forced it into the machine, which began whirring, eliciting a sharp scream of pain from her before it released her. She fell back, clutching her hand with its brand new Y shaped cut.

"What did you do?" he asked darkly, glaring at the soldiers.

There was no answer as the soldier looked up at the commander. "She's not compatible, sir. The system isn't registering her at all."

The leader glared at Rose as though she'd done something on purpose to mess with their machine, and the Doctor pushed her behind him protectively. "Take him then."

They grabbed the Doctor then, forcing his hand – the one that still held his faint wedding scar – into the machine as well.

"Leave him alone!" Donna shouted, taking Rose into her arms when they took hold of him.

He started to joke about it. "Something tells me this isn't about to check my blood pressure AAGGGH!"

"Let him go!" Martha shrieked.

Donna hugged his wife as she cringed. "What're you doing to him?"

"Everyone gets processed," the commander stated coldly.

"It's taken a tissue sample. Ow ow ow ow ow ow! And extrapolated it! Some kind of accelerator?" the Doctor explained as he was released and he stepped back. He looked at his hand then reached for Rose.

"Are you alright?" Martha asked, pulling their hands forward to examine them.

The machine made a sound that seemed to be saying it was about to explode.

"Something's gone wrong!" the soldier screamed, backing away. "It's trying to merge their samples!"

Necessary.

Rose jerked her head up, staring at the Doctor in shock. "Did you hear that?"

He nodded, paling slightly. "Was that the TARDIS?"

There was a loud pop and the machine sparked as a nearby chamber opened, filling the room with smoke. A woman stepped out of the chamber and looked around. She was petite and thin with icy blue eyes and hair the same golden blonde as Rose. She looked at the other people in the room with open curiosity.

"What on earth? That's just..." the Doctor muttered.

The lead soldier tossed a weapon at the woman as though people stepped out of the machine all the time. "Arm yourself!"

She caught the weapon smartly and began to disassemble and reassemble it with proficient speed.

"Where did she come from?" Martha asked quietly.

"I think from us," Rose answered, looking up at the Doctor for confirmation.

He nodded slowly. "I'm afraid so."

"From you?!" Donna snapped. "How? Who is she?"

"I suppose… well, that is, it seems… she's… she's our daughter," he said, obviously in shock.

The woman looked up and grinned, and they recognized the same tongue in teeth smile Rose gave. "Hello mum, dad!"

The newly formed woman moved over to where the soldiers were readying themselves for battle.

The leader looked her over. "You primed to take orders, ready to fight?"

The woman nodded smartly. "Instant mental download of all strategic and military protocols, sir. Generation 5000 soldier primed and in peak physical health. Oh, I'm ready."

Donna shook her head, finding little to grasp. "Did you say, daughter?"

The Doctor frowned as he watched her. "Mm. Technically."

"Technically how?" Martha asked. "Rose's DNA wasn't useable."

The Doctor glanced over at Martha. "Progenation. Reproduction from a single organism. Means one parent is biological mother and father. You take a sample of diploid cells, split them into haploids, then recombine them in a different arrangement, and grow. Very quickly, apparently."

Rose narrowed her eyes. "Only it didn't take a single organism. The man working the machine said it combined our genetic samples."

"There was a glitch," he conceded. He looked at the screen which had been abandoned after the slight explosion. He made a sputtering sound. "Rose!"

She moved to his side at once, gasping when she saw the two words repeating on the monitor.

Bad Wolf.

"Guess there's more to this than it seems," she said weakly.

Their genetic offspring looked up and down one of the tunnels in alarm. "Something's coming!"

A group of creatures that resembled humanoid fish were running toward them, firing weapons.

"It's the Hath!" the lead soldier shouted and the humans began firing back.

"Get down!" the newly made woman shouted.

The CO shook his head. "We have to blow the tunnel! Get the detonator!"

The
Doctor bristled, knowing all of their lives could be forfeit if the tunnel came down. "I'm not detonating anything!"

Martha was too distracted by everything that was happening to notice when one of the Hath grabbed her and pulled her away from the group, obviously intending to use her as a hostage. The new blonde kicked another Hath away that was just about to take the detonator and grabbed the device herself.

"Blow that thing, blow that thing!" the leader shouted frantically.

"Martha!" Rose screamed out. "No! Don't!"

Her pseudo daughter pressed the button, and they all scrambled to safety. There was an explosion that rocked the area, and the sound of rubble falling was unmistakable.

"You've sealed off the tunnel," the Doctor shouted. "Why did you do that?!"

The woman waved an arm. "They were trying to kill us!"

"But they've got our friend!" he snapped, turning as Rose winced, feeling the beginning of a large bruise on her back. Her husband was at her side in a moment, helping her.

"Collateral damage," the soldier woman insisted, a bit stubbornly. "At least you've still got two women, he lost both his men, I'd say you came out ahead."

Donna turned a bit red, which her traveling partners had learned meant she was about to explode with indignation. "Her name's Martha, and she's not collateral damage, not for anyone! Have you got that, GI Jane?!"

"We've gotta find her," Rose said simply, defusing them all. "What's done is done. Now we fix it."

The leader of the soldiers aimed his gun at them, Rose in particular as she'd spoken last. The Doctor growled softly and put himself between them, still very annoyed by people pointing guns at her.

"You're going nowhere. You don't make sense, you lot. No guns, no marks, no fight in you… I'm taking you to General Cobb. Now, move," he barked.

He marched them down the tunnels, heading for what could only be the command center for their forces and Donna tried to find something of her friends in the young woman sporting the large weapon.

"I'm Donna, what's your name?"

The woman shrugged as though that was hardly worth thought. "Don't know, it's not been assigned."

The redhead's brows rose. "Well, if you don't know that, what do you know?"

"How to fight," came the simply reply.

Rose grimaced. If she hadn't had the Doctor with her while dealing with the aliens she'd encountered… she would have likely ended up like this. A warrior. But there was still the part of her that wanted to understand, wanted to learn, really wanted to find the good in every person they met. And if this was her child, it had to be somewhere in her as well. For his part, the Time Lord couldn't stop comparing the harsh soldier before them to his loving, compassionate mate.

"Nothing else?" Donna asked in surprise.

"The machine must embed military history and tactics but no name. She's a generated anomaly," the Doctor answered stiffly.

The redhead glanced at him then back at the woman she was focused on. "Generated anomaly? Jenny-rated. Well what about that? Jenny! Rose, what do you think?"

She gave Donna a half smile. It was a cute name, and she might have even chosen such a name if she'd had a child to name.

The newly christened woman gave a nearly identical smile. "Jenny. Yeah, I like that, Jenny."

"What do you think, 'Dad'?" Donna asked, a bit teasingly to the man she thought of as a brother.

He shrugged, staring resolutely ahead. "Good as anything, I suppose."

She frowned. "Not what you'd call a natural parent, are you?"

He shot her a glare. "They stole a tissue sample at gunpoint and processed it, it's not what I call natural parentage."

Rose bit back a sigh.

Donna was having none of it, though. "Rubbish! My friend Nerys fathered twins with a turkey baster, don't bother her."

"You can't extrapolate a relationship from a biological accident," he ground out.

"Er, Child Support Agency can."

Rose snickered under her breath, earning a pleading look from him. He needed her to be on his side, but she wanted to accept Jenny.

"Look, just cos I share certain physiological traits with simian primates doesn't make me a monkey's uncle, does it?" he asked, exasperated.

"I'm not a monkey!" Jenny spat. "Or a child."

"We know," Rose said gently, squeezing the Doctor's hand.

He didn't answer, as they arrived at that moment at the encampment, a vast underground cavern filled with evidence of soldiers at war.

"So, where are we? What planet's this?" the Doctor asked finally.

"Messaline. Well, what's left of it."

There was someone announcing to the rest. "...663 – 75 deceased. Generation 6671 – Extinct. Generation 6672 – 46 deceased. Generation 6680 – 14 deceased. Generation ..."

Donna looked around. "But, this is a theatre!"

"Maybe they're doing Miss Saigon," Rose suggested.

"It's like a town, or a city, underground. But why?" Donna asked curiously.

An older man took a report from the soldier and approached.

The Doctor stuck his hands in his pockets. "General Cobb, I presume?"

The man nodded curtly. "Found in the Western tunnels, I'm told, with no marks. There was an outbreak of pacifism in the Eastern Zone, three generations back, before we lost contact, is that where you came from?"

The Doctor shrugged, going with it. "Eastern Zone, that's us, yeah. Yeah. I'm The Doctor, this is Rose and Donna."

"And I'm Jenny," the other woman announced, grinning.

Cobb sneered. "Don't think you can infect us with your peacemaking. We're committed to the fight, to the very end."

"But not to manners," Rose noted with a snort.

"Shh," the Doctor warned her softly. "Well, that's all right, we can't stay anyway. We've gotta go and find our friend."

The general smirked coldly. "That's not possible, all movement is regulated. We're at war."

Exchanging a look with Rose, the Doctor sighed. "Yes, I noticed. With the Hath. But tell me, cos we got a bit out of circulation, Eastern Zone and all that, so, who exactly are the Hath?"

"Back at the dawn of this planet, these ancient halls were carved from the earth. Our ancestors dreamt of a new beginning, a colony where human and Hath could work and live together," Cobb said with a scowl.

"So what happened?" Rose asked, her curiosity peaked.

He huffed. "The dream died. Broken, along with Hath promises. They wanted it all for themselves. But those early pioneers, they fought back. They used the machines to produce soldiers instead of colonists, and began this battle for survival."

Donna shook her head. "There's nothing but earth outside, why's that? Why build everything underground?"

The soldier that had brought them there answered, "The surface is too dangerous."

"Well, then why build windows in the first place? And what does this mean?" the redhead argued, pointing at the wall, where a number was imprinted n the masonry.

Cobb raised his chin a bit. "The rites and symbols of our ancestors. The meanings... lost in time."

Rose bit her lip thoughtfully, staring at the general. She got the distinct feeling that he knew more than he was sharing.

"How long's this war gone on for?" Donna asked, obviously not trusting him either.

"Longer than anyone can remember. Countless generations marked only by the dead."

"What, fighting all this time?" Rose asked, her tone one of horror and mourning.

Jenny frowned, suddenly feeling that she needed her genetic mother to understand. "Because we must. Every child of the machine is born with this knowledge. It's our inheritance, it's all we know. How to fight. And how to die."

Rose looked away, hugging herself. She glanced at the Doctor.

"I want to see a map. Maybe we can end all this bloodshed once and for all," he said, reaching out to comfort her.

They led them into Cobb's "office" area, and the general pulled up a holographic map.

"Does this show the entire city, including the Hath zones?" the Doctor asked, leaning forward and pulling out his specs.

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, it'll help us find Martha," he said simply.

The soldier that had ordered them into the machine originally shook his head. "We've more important things to do. The Progenation Machines are repaired but powered down for the night shift, but soon as they're active, we could breed a whole platoon from you three."

Donna jerked back, her voice instantly shrill and angry, "I'm not having sons and daughters by some great big flippin' machine! Sorry, no offence but you're not... well I mean you're not real."

The young woman threw up her hands. "You're no better than him! I have a body, I have a mind, I have independent thought, how am I not real? What makes you better than me?"

Cobb smirked. "Well said, soldier. We need more like you if ever we're to find the Source."

The Doctor perked at the new bit of information. "Ooh, the Source, what's that then, what's a Source? I like a Source, what is it?"

"The Breath of Life."

"And that would be...?" he pressed.

The first soldier answered, "In the beginning the great one breathed life into the universe. And then she looked at what she'd done, and she sighed."

Jenny brightened. "She? I like that."

"Right, so it's a creation myth," Rose mused, thinking over her schooling for something that might help.

Cobb growled slightly. "It's not myth. It's real. That sigh. From the beginning of time it was caught and kept as the Source. It was lost when the war started. But it's here, somewhere. Whoever holds the Source controls the destiny of the planet."

The Doctor hadn't been listening, he'd been hacking their map. "Ah! I thought so! There's a suppressed layer of information in this map, if I can just…"

He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and used it to adjust the map. More tunnels appeared and he grinned.

"What is it, what's it mean?" Donna asked curiously.

"It's a whole complex of tunnels, hidden from sight," Rose explained. "Well done, love."

Cobb pointed at a newly uncovered area. "That must be the lost temple. The source will be inside. You've shown us the way! And look, we're closer than the Hath! It's ours!" He turned to the other soldier. "Cline, tell them to prepare to move out. We'll progenate new soldiers on the morning shift, then we march. Once we reach the Temple, peace will be restored at long last."

The Doctor cocked his head at the general. "Um, call me old-fashioned, but if you really wanted peace couldn't you just stop fighting?"

Cobb shook his head determinedly. "Only when we have the Source. It'll give us the power to erase every stinking Hath from the face of this planet!"

Rose jerked. "Hang on, hang on, a second ago it was peace in our time, now you're talking about genocide!? Doctor!"

"She makes a good point, General Cobb."

The older man shrugged. "For us, that means the same thing."

The Doctor crossed his arms. "Then you need to get yourself a better dictionary. When you do, look up genocide. You'll see a little picture of me there and the caption will read 'Over my dead body'!"

He smirked coldly. "And you're the one who showed us the path to victory. But you can consider the irony from your prison cell. Cline, at arms!"

Cline raised his weapon, pointing it at them.

"Oi, oi oi! All right! Cool the beans Rambo!" Donna exclaimed.

The general raised his chin in the victory he could practically taste. "Take them, I won't have them spreading treason. And if you try anything, Doctor, I'll see that your woman dies first."

"You try to hurt Rose and you'll have a lot worse than Hath to worry about," the Doctor promised him darkly.

Rose shook her head, pressing a hand to his chest. "Stop that. You know She isn't going to let anything happen."

"Come on. This way," Cline ordered.

"I'm going to stop you, Cobb, you need to know that," the Doctor tried again.

The man laughed. "I have an army and the breath of god on my side, Doctor, what'll you have?"

"More than you could imagine," he said slowly. "My mind, and people I believe in."

The general rolled his eyes. "Lock them up, and guard them."

"What about the new soldier?" Cline asked.

Jenny moved forward to receive orders, but Cobb shoved her back. From instinct, the Doctor caught her as easily as he would have Rose.

"Can't trust her, she's from pacifist stock. Take them all!"

Cline escorted them to the prison, cells with more of the imprinted numbers on the wall. He shoved the four of them inside.

"More numbers. They've gotta mean something," the redhead mused.

The Doctor shrugged, moving as far from Jenny as possible. He was disturbed by how he'd reacted. She wasn't his… she wasn't theirs, but he so wished she was. He'd had children before, with a woman chosen by his people as an acceptable match, and he'd delighted in them. He wouldn't trade his beloved wife for more children, but Jenny had unwittingly opened a painful scar that had come from the knowledge that he would never share parenthood with his Rose.

"Makes as much sense as the breath of life story," he muttered.

Jenny turned wide blue eyes to her 'mother'. "You mean that's not true?"

"No, sweetheart, it's a myth," Rose answered tiredly. War and death… it was never a good answer, even when it was unavoidable.

"You okay?" he asked her softly, rubbing her back lovingly.

Jenny watched them in utter fascination. Nothing in her imbedded knowledge explained love, or caring, or even loyalty. Rose nodded and leaned into him, seeking comfort and support from his proximity.

"There could still be something real in that temple, something that's become a myth. A piece of technology, a weapon," he said thoughtfully.

Donna gave a short laugh. "So the Source could be a weapon and we've just given directions to Captain Nutjob?"

Rose laughed also. "Donna, I'm so glad we brought you."

"Oh, yes," the Doctor agreed.

The former temp sighed, leaning against the wall. "Not good, is it?"

He shook his head. "That's why we need to get out of here, find Martha and stop Cobb from slaughtering the Hath."

He finally noticed Jenny watching him closely. "What, what are you, what are you…what are you staring at?"

She gestured to him. "You keep insisting you're not a soldier. But look at you! Drawing up strategies like a proper general."

"No no, I'm trying to stop the fighting," the Doctor protested.

"Isn't every soldier?" the young woman asked innocently.

He shook his head, pulling out his sonic. "Well. I suppose. But that's… that's… technically... I haven't got time for this! Donna, give me your phone! Time for an upgrade! Rose left hers on the console."

Jenny threw her hands up as Donna handed over the cell. "And now you've got a weapon!"

Rose patted the girl's back. "It's not a weapon."

"But you're using it to fight back!" she laughed, "I'm gonna learn so much from you, you are such a soldier!"

The Doctor groaned. "Will someone tell her?"

Donna grinned. "Oh, you are speechless, I'm loving this! You keep on, Jenny!"

He glared at her and dialed the phone. "Martha! You're alive! …we're with Donna, we're fine, what about you?"

"And, and Jenny, she's fine too!" Donna hollered at the phone.

With palpable exasperation, he ground out, "Yes all right, and, and Jenny... That's the woman from the machine, the soldier, our daughter, except she isn't, she's, she's... Anyway! Where are you?" He cringed. "Ohhh... That was me. If both armies are heading that way, there's going to be a bloodbath."

"The map?" Rose asked softly.

He nodded miserably and spoke to Martha. "Just stay where you are, if you're safe there then don't move, d'you hear? …Martha? Lost her."

There were cheers and chanting outside the prison.

"So many people are going to die if we don't stop it," Rose sighed. "Well, we can't wait for them to gear up and move out. We need to go now. So how do we get past the guard?"

Jenny moved nervously closer. "I can deal with him."

"No no no no," the Doctor said immediately. "You're not going anywhere."

Three women frowned at him.

"What?" Jenny asked.

He gestured. "You belong here, with them."

Donna shook her head. "She belongs with us. With you. She's your daughter!"

He glared at the redhead. "She's a soldier. She came out of that machine!"

"Oh yes, I know that bit! Listen, have you got that stethoscope? Give it to me. Come on!" Donna demanded, holding her hand out until the Doctor gave her what she wanted. She then turned and moved toward Jenny.

"What're you doing?" the young woman asked nervously.

"It's all right. Just hold still," she answered, placing the stethoscope on Jenny's chest, left side, then right. She looked at the 'parents'. "Come here. Listen. And then tell me where she belongs."

Rose stepped forward, taking the stethoscope and listening, staring at Jenny for a long moment before blinking rapidly and curling it up. "Two hearts," she whispered. She turned and strode back to her husband, tucking the stethoscope back into his pockets. "She comes with us."

The Doctor could only nod mutely. Rarely did Rose say things so decisively, but when she did the mighty Oncoming Storm could only let her do as she pleased. She was his weakness, and if she said Jenny was coming, Jenny was indeed coming. Even Donna had fallen silent at the sudden authority in her voice.

"What's going on?" Jenny asked, thoroughly confused.

"Does that mean she's a...? What do you call a female Time Lord?"

"What's a Time Lord?"

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "It's who I am. It's where I'm from."

"And I'm from you."

"You're an echo, that's all. A Time Lord is so much more. A sum of knowledge. A code. A shared history. A shared suffering." He paused in his rant, reaching unconsciously for Rose's hand, squeezing it when he felt it. "Only it's gone now. All of it. Gone forever."

"What happened?" the young woman asked quietly.

"There was a war."

She glanced at the bars, toward the outside. "Like this one?"

He laughed, but there was no amusement, no joy in the sound. "Bigger. Much bigger."

Jenny frowned. "And you fought? And killed?"

"Yes."

"Then how are we different?"

Rose shook her head. "No more. Jenny, you may be fully grown physically, but you're too young to understand. All you know is how to be a soldier, but the universe is a lot more than that. Sure, maybe your… your dad is a bit of a soldier when he has to be, but he's so much more. Because we all need balance. You're also from me… and I'm no soldier. I'm just an ordinary woman who fell into an extraordinary life, and learned to love it. So that's gotta be in there too. You said you're not a kid, but you are. And you're gonna come with us, and you're gonna learn to grow up without killing first and asking questions second. Now – we need out of this cell, and we need to stop this war."

They all stared at her for a long, silent moment before the Doctor pulled her close and placed a gentle kiss on her head. His Rose. Still knew the best thing to say. Jenny took a deep breath.

"Right… yes, Mum." She moved to the cell door and called to Cline. "Hey."

He shook his head. "I'm not supposed to talk to you, I'm on duty."

She smiled a bit, and her tone became flirtatious. "I know. Guarding me. So does that mean I'm dangerous? Or that I need protecting?"

The Doctor looked at Rose with wide eyes. He knew that tone! That tone had destroyed several carefully constructed arguments and left him making every effort to make his wife happy. She winked cheerfully.

The man outside the cell wasn't so familiar with the tone though. "Protecting from what?"

She shrugged coyly. "Oh, I don't know. Men like you?" Jenny reached out to pull him in for a kiss, but grabbed the gun while he was distracted and pointed it at him. "Keep quiet and open the door."

"I'd like to see you try that!" Donna teased the Doctor.

Rose laughed. "She gets that from my side."

The group made their way down the stairs, and saw another guard.

"That's the way out," the Doctor said softly.

Jenny cocked the gun that was still in her hands, but the Doctor shook his head.

"Don't you dare!" he warned her.

Donna stepped up. "Let me distract this one. I have picked up a few womanly wiles over the years."

Digging in his pockets, the Doctor produced a small mechanical mouse. "Let's... save your wiles for later. In case of emergency."

He sent the mouse out and distracted the man, and Jenny moved up and knocked him out.

"I was gonna distract him, not clobber him!" he protested.

Jenny raised her hands. "Well, Mum's plan worked, didn't it?"

He looked at Rose accusingly. "Really?"

She stared mildly back. "Would you rather I let her shoot them?"

He shook his head. "They must all have a copy of that new map. Just stay there, don't hurt anyone. And that goes for all of you."

He moved forward and found the guard's copy of the map. "Wait! This is it. The hidden tunnel. There must be a control panel."

They moved forward and Donna pointed out another number to Rose. "It's another one of those numbers. They're everywhere."

She nodded. "The original builders must've left them. Some old cataloguing system."

"You got a pen? Bit of paper? Cos, d'you see, the numbers are counting down." She held out her hand and as she knew he would, the Doctor gave her pen and paper and she took notes. "This one ends in 1-4, the prison cell said 1-6."

"Always thinking, all of you. Who are you people?" Jenny asked.

"I told you. I'm the Doctor."

The girl looked at him disbelievingly. "The Doctor? That's it?"

"That's all he ever says," Donna mumbled. "Except to Rose."

"That's different, and there's no way I'm telling you that," Rose immediately said.

"So, you don't have a name either? Are you an anomaly too?" Jenny asked him hopefully.

"No."

Donna snorted. "Oh, come off it! You're the most anomalous bloke I've ever met! You got no name, Rose's got two."

He took the cover off the control panel as they reached it, purposely ignoring Donna. "Here it is!"

"Two names?"

"Never mind," Rose said quickly. She didn't want to think about Bad Wolf just then.

Jenny turned back to the man who was her father. "And Time Lords, what are they for exactly?"

He shook his head. "'For'? They're not... They're not 'for' anything."

"So what do you do?" she asked.

"I travel. Through time and space," he answered simply.

Donna shook her head. "Him and Rose, they save planets, rescue civilizations, defeat terrible creatures. And run a lot. Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved. But I think they like it."

"Got it!" He crowed as the door slid open.

Cobb's voice suddenly echoed to them. "Squad 5, with me!"

"Now, what were you saying about running?" Rose joked.

"Funny," Donna muttered as the four of them ran further on down the hall. Soon their way was blocked yet again. There were red beams from wall to wall.

"That's not mood lighting, is it?" Donna asked slowly.

Shaking his head, the Doctor tossed the little clockwork mouse into the beams, cringing when it burst into sparks and disintegrated.

"Depends on your mood, I suppose," Rose quipped.

"That ain't it, sister," the redhead retorted drily.

"Arming device," the Doctor said, bouncing over and working on the controls.

Donna shook her head, but noticed another set of numbers up on the wall. "There's more of these. Always eight numbers, counting down, the closer we get..."

Rose followed her gaze. "Counting down as we get close, or counting up on the way away?"

"Hrm…" Donna mused.

The Doctor interrupted with a crow, "Here we go!"

"You'd better be quick, Doctor," Rose warned, hearing movement.

Jenny turned as well. "I hear them too. It's the General!"

She immediately began running in that direction, stopped by the Doctor reaching out and grabbing her arm.

"Where are you going?" he asked with alarm.

She looked him in the eye. "I can hold them up."

He shook his head. "No, we don't need any more dead."

She shook her head in confusion. "But it's them or us…"

Rose stepped toward them. "That doesn't mean you have to kill them, Jenny."

Jenny ran a hand over her head in a gesture so reminiscent of the Doctor's familiar action that her biological mother had to suppress a smile.

"I'm trying to save your life!" she shouted in frustration.

He sighed, reaching a hand out to his wife for support. "Listen to me, the killing, after a while it infects you. And once it does you're never rid of it…"

"We don't have a choice," Jenny stated flatly.

Both of her parents reached out and touched her arm. "We always have a choice," they said at the same time.

Donna shook her head in disbelief. How he could deny that she was his daughter was beyond her. And Rose was about one hug from declaring herself "Mum."

The girl bit her lip and glanced back. "I'm sorry," she finally said before rushing back down the hall.

"Jenny!" the Doctor shouted, stepping after her.

Rose pulled him back. "No, if she's going to choose our life, she has to do it herself. And we have to trust her to do it. Also, if you don't shut those off, that life is going to last about… 5 more minutes."

He growled as shots echoed down to them. "I told you. Nothing but a soldier."

"She's trying to help," Donna told him.

Rose shook her head. "Jenny! Come on!"

"I'm coming!"

She came running toward them, followed by Cobb's voice. "Cease fire! Cease fire!"

The beams shut off and the Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and ran, shooing Donna in front of them.

He shouted over one shoulder, "Jenny! Leave it! Let's go!"

Cobb stepped toward the young woman. "You're a child of the machine. You're on my side. Join us! Join us in the war against the Hath. It's in your blood, girl, don't deny it."

"Jenny! Come on! That's it!" Rose called.

Donna added, "Hurry up!"

The beams came back on just as she got to that part of the hall.

"No, no, no, no! The circuit's looped back!" the Doctor cried, exasperated.

"Zap it back again!" his redhead friend snapped.

Rose shook her head. "The controls are back there!"

Jenny motioned for them to go on. "They're coming!"

Both hands dragged through the Doctor's wild brown hair. "Wait! J-Just...! There isn't...! Jenny, I can't!"

Jenny met Rose's eyes and winked, feeling a rush of warmth at the other blonde's encouraging smile. "I'll have to manage on my own. Watch and learn, Father!"

She backed away and ran a few steps before doing a series of gymnastics and flips. She landed on the far side with them with a big grin.

"No way! But that was impossible!" Donna exclaimed.

"Not impossible. Just a bit unlikely!" the Doctor replied, hugging Jenny with a proud smile. "Brilliant! You were brilliant! Brilliant!"

Rose smiled broadly. "She gets that from me, you know."

Jenny looked between them, eyes wide and earnest. "I didn't kill him. General Cobb, I could have kill him, but I didn't. You were right. I had a choice."

The soldiers showed up at the end of the corridor, the general glaring at them all.

"At arms!"

"Go on," the Doctor said to Rose. "Get them out of here." As his wife nodded and led Donna and Jenny away, he turned to the general. "I warned you, Cobb. If the Source is a weapon, I'm gonna make sure you never use it."

The man hissed furiously. "One of us is gonna die today and it won't be me."

Cobb began firing at the Doctor, who then turned and ran after the others.

"So, you travel with my mum and dad, but that's it?" Jenny was asking Donna as he caught up to them. "No romantic type feelings for him… or her?"

"What? No, no! No way! No, no. We're friends. That's all. I mean, we're not even the same species, there's probably laws against it," Donna declared adamantly.

"Technically, the Doctor and I aren't the same species either," Rose admitted candidly while Jenny laughed. "But that's hardly anyone's fault. He's the last of his and I'm the only one there's ever been of mine…"

"And what's it like, the travelling?" the young woman asked wistfully.

Donna grinned. "Ah, never a dull moment. Can be terrifying, brilliant and funny - sometimes all at the same time. I've seen some amazing things though. Whole new worlds."

Jenny moaned longingly. "Oh, I'd love to see new worlds."

Rose squeezed the Doctor's hand as it slipped into hers. "You will. Won't she, Doctor?"

"Hm?" he asked, thoroughly distracted.

"D'you think Jenny will see any new worlds?" Donna repeated for him.

He gave a small smile. "I suppose so."

His daughter gasped. "You mean... You mean, you'll take me with you?"

"I can't leave you here, can I?" he asked jokingly. "Your mum would slap me into my next regeneration."

Jenny launched herself at him, hugging him tightly. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! Come on! Let's get a move on! I've got traveling to do!"

She ran ahead at top speed.

"Careful," he called after her, "there might be traps!"

Donna laughed. "Kids! They never listen!"

She glanced up when there was no answer and saw the worried looks on her friends' faces. "Oh, I know that look. See it a lot round our way. Blokes with pushchairs and frowns. You've got dad-shock. I reckon Rose has mum-shock, in a way."

"Dad-shock?" the Doctor repeated numbly.

The redhead nodded cheerfully. "Sudden, unexpected fatherhood. Take a bit of getting used to."

He shook his head sadly. "No, it's not that."

Donna forged ahead, as was her style. "Well, what is it then? Having Jenny in the TARDIS is that it? What's she gonna do, cramp your style? Like you've got a sports car and she's gonna turn it into a people-carrier? Put a cramp in your mushy-ness any more than I already do?"

He looked away, unable to see Rose's face while he said those words that were sure to hurt her. "Donna, I've been a father before."

"What?" the woman spluttered. "But I thought Rose said…"

She shook her head. "I can't have kids, no. But he didn't mean with me. He meant he had proper Time Lord kids, and a proper Time Lord wife."

He looked back at her with a frown. "I lost all that a long time ago. Along with everything else. I would have nothing now, if it weren't for Rose."

The redhead blinked back sympathetic tears. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. Why didn't you tell me? You two talk all the time, but you don't say anything."

"I know. I'm just... When I look at her now I can see them. The hole they left, all the pain that filled it. I just don't know if I can face that every day," he admitted hoarsely.

Donna nodded. "It won't stay like that. She'll help you. We all will. Rose can teach us how, she helped you before."

"I thought… when they died, that part of me died with them. It'll never come back. Not now."

Rose bit her lip, swallowing hard. She wanted to help him, but this was beyond her. To her, Jenny was hers. Maybe not the conventional way, but maybe the only way she was going to have a child.

"I tell you something, Doctor, something I've never told you before," Donna said firmly. "I think you're wrong."

The sound of gunfire caught their attention and Jenny came sprinting back to them. "They've blasted through the beams, time to run again. Love the running! Yeah?"

The Doctor actually grinned and nodded. "Love the running."

The group took off, determined to make it. But before they had gone too far, they met with a dead end.

"We're trapped," Donna said in a tone of disbelief.

The Doctor shook his head. "Can't be. This must be the temple. This is a door."

Rose pointed out the numbers to Donna who exclaimed, "And again! We're down to 1-2 now..."

"I've got it!" the Time Lord crowed.

Jenny glanced behind nervously. "I can hear them!"

"Nearly done," he murmured.

The redhead scowled thoughtfully, "These can't be a cataloguing system."

Jenny ran back a bit. "They're getting closer!"

"Then get back here!" Rose snapped.

"They're too similar. Too familiar…"

Jenny waved dismissively. "Not yet."

"Now! Got it!"

The door swung open silently. Rose darted up and grabbed her daughter's arm, yanking her through with the rest of them.

"They're coming! Close the door!" the older blonde instructed.

The Doctor pushed some keys and the door slid closed.

"Oh, that was close!" Jenny grinned.

Her father laughed. "No fun otherwise!"

"It's not what I'd call a temple..." Donna muttered, looking around.

The other three took in their surroundings.

"It looks more like..." Rose started.

The Doctor finished, "Fusion-drive transport. It's a spaceship!"

Donna raised her brows. "What, the original one? The one the first colonists arrived in?"

"Well, it could be, but the power cells would have run down after all that time. This one's still powered-up and functioning. Come on!" the Doctor explained, urging them in further.

"Doctor!" Rose cried, pointing at the door where someone is obviously cutting through.

"It's the Hath!" Jenny exclaimed. "That door's not gonna last much longer. And if General Cobb gets through down there, war's gonna break out."

The Doctor pointed at the controls. "Look, look, look, look, look! Ship's log! 'First wave of Human/Hath co-colonisation of planet Messaline'."

Jenny gaped. "So it is the original ship."

"What happened?" Rose asked curiously.

"'Phase one. Construction.' They used robot drones to build the city."

Donna peeked over his shoulder. "But, does it mention the war?"

He started scrolling down. "Final entry... 'Mission commander dead. Still no agreement on who should assume leadership. Hath and humans have divided into factions.' That must be it! A power vacuum. The crew divided into two factions and turned on each other. Start using the progenation machines and suddenly you've got two armies fighting a never-ending war!"

Jenny grabbed his arm nervously. "Two armies who are now both outside."

"Look at that!" Donna said, pointing at the screen where a set of numbers similar to those on the wall were displayed.

Rose narrowed her eyes. "It's like the numbers in the tunnels."

The redhead shook her head. "No, no, no, no, but listen... I spent six months working as a temp in Hounslow Library, and I mastered the Dewey Decimal System in two days flat. I'm good with numbers! It's staring us in the face!"

Jenny frowned. "What is?"

"It's the date! Assuming the first two numbers are some big old space date, then you've got year, month, day. It's the other way round, like it is in America!"

"Ohhh! It's the New Byzantine Calendar!" the Doctor blinked.

Donna explained further, "The codes are completion dates for each section. They finish it, they stamp the date on! So the numbers aren't counting down, they're going out, from here, day by day, as the city got built."

"Oh, good work, Donna!" Rose beamed.

Donna nodded. "Yeah! But you're, you're still not getting it. The first number I saw back there, was 6012-07-17. Well, look at the date today!"

"07-24. No!" the Doctor gasped.

Jenny looked between them. "What does it mean?"

"Seven days," Rose breathed. She extended the extra sense she'd gained from the TARDIS and knew it was right.

"That's it! Seven days!" the other woman confirmed.

The Doctor shook his head in disbelief. "Just seven days?!"

"What d'you mean, seven days?" the recently created woman demanded, close to panic.

"Seven days since war broke out," Rose explained gently.

Donna gestured around to indicate the entire planet. "This war started seven days ago! Just a week! A week!"

Jenny covered her mouth in horror. "They said years!"

Rose shook her head slowly, sadly. "No, sweetheart. They said generations. And if they were all made like you, and they're products of those machines..."

The Doctor slapped himself in the forehead. "They could have 20 generations in a day! Each generation gets killed in the war, passes on the legend! Ohhh! Donna, you're a genius!"

Jenny swallowed hard. "But all the buildings, the encampments, they're in ruins."

He shook his head, getting that manic look in his eyes that always appeared when things suddenly snapped into place. "No they're not ruined, they're just empty! Waiting to be populated! Oh, they've mythologised their entire history! The Source must be part of that too. Come on!"

They sped off around the corner and straight into a very familiar form.

They run again. They turn around a corner and bump into Martha.

"Doctor!" Martha cried out, "Rose!"

"Martha!" Rose cried, hugging the woman fiercely.

"I should've known you wouldn't stay away from the excitement!" the Doctor teased, joining in the hug.

"Shut it," Martha laughed before turning to hug Donna also. "Donna!"

The redhead woman beamed happily to welcome her newest friend back. "Oooh, you're filthy, what happened?!"

"I, erm, took the surface route."

Shouts echoed to them once more and the Doctor ushered them on their way. "That's the general! We haven't got much time."

"We don't even know what we're looking for!" Donna moaned.

"Is it me, or can you smell flowers?" Rose said, turning toward the smell.

The Doctor nodded, turning also. "Yes! Bougainvillea! I say we follow our nose!"

Cobb's voice could be heard, "Blocks 7 to 10, advance! With me!"

They ran forward toward a huge greenhouse looking area. It was filled with palms and flowers, and other exotic looking plants.

"Oh, yes! Yes! Isn't this brilliant?" the Doctor crooned, stepping toward a pedestal in the center that held a glass orb filled with a mixture of shining gases.

"Is that the Source?" Donna asked in a hushed tone.

Jenny sighed. "It's beautiful."

Martha tipped her head. "What is it?"

Rose narrowed her eyes, remembering this from one of her studies of colonized worlds. "Looks like a terraforming device… maybe… third generation?"

The Doctor beamed at her. "Well done."

Donna looked around. "So why are we suddenly in Kew Gardens?"

He laughed. "Because that's what it does. All this, only bigger. Much bigger! It's in a transit state. Producing all this must help keep it stable before they finally..."

He trailed off as the Hath and the humans both arrived at the same time from opposite directions, all priming their weapons the moment they saw each other.

The Doctor held up both hands. "Stop! Hold your fire!"

Cobb glared at him, aiming directly at his head. "What is this? Some kind of trap?"

"You said you wanted this war over," the Time Lord pleadingly.

"I want this war won," the man spat.

"You can't win. No one can. You don't even know why you're here. Your whole history, it's just Chinese whispers. Getting more distorted the more it's passed on," the Doctor snapped, pointing to the sphere. "This is the Source. This is what you're fighting over. A device to rejuvenate a planet's ecosystem. It's nothing mystical. It's from a laboratory, not some creator. It's a bubble of gases. A cocktail of stuff for accelerated evolution. Methane, hydrogen, ammonia, amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids. It's used to make barren planets habitable. Look around you! It's not for killing, it's bringing life. If you allow it, it can lift you out of these dark tunnels and into the bright, bright sunlight! No more fighting. No more killing."

Rose felt her heart swell as it always did during her husband's more dramatic moments as he lifted the sphere high above his head.

"I'm the Doctor, and I declare this war is over!"

He dashed the glass device to the ground, shattering it spectacularly and allowing the gases to escape. They shone in brilliant greens and golds as they swirled and spread into the air. The soldiers on both sides stared, transfixed, and finally dropped their weapons.

"What's happening?" Jenny breathed slowly, as if afraid she was going to ruin everything.

"The gases will escape and trigger the terraforming process," Rose told her. "The Source, or your Breath of the Divine, is creating a whole new world.

Jenny laughed with delight, looking around at the wonder of all the other people in the room. She saw General Cobb and his anger at what had happened. She saw him raise his weapon and something flashed in her mind, bright gold and screaming of danger. She did the only thing that felt right, and she jumped in front of her father as the hate filled general fired.

"No!"

The shot was true, and hit the young woman square in the chest, causing her to collapse back into the Doctor's arms. The human soldiers took the man into custody immediately, taking his weapon and holding him immobilized.

"Jenny? Jenny! Talk to me, Jenny!" he cried out.

Martha checked her pulse and the girl's wound as Rose sank to her knees next to her small, breaking family.

"Is she gonna be all right?" Donna asked softly.

"Of course she is," Rose answered firmly.

Martha looked at Donna and shook her head without a word. Rose raised tearing eyes to her friend.

"Don't say that," she said hoarsely.

Jenny began to whisper. "A new world. It's beautiful."

The Doctor let out a small sob. "Jenny? Be strong, now. You need to hold on. D'you hear me? We've got things to do, you and me and your mum. Hey? Hey? We can go anywhere. Everywhere. You choose."

She smiled softly. "That sounds good."

He shook his head, meeting Rose's eyes briefly. "You're our daughter and we've only just got started. You're gonna be great. You're gonna be more than great. You're gonna be amazing! You hear me? Jenny?"

The girl sighed and closed her eyes, going limp. The parents clutched at each other.

"Two hearts," he swallowed hard. "Two hearts, she's like me. If we wait... If we just wait..."

"There's no sign, Doctor. There is no regeneration. She's like you, but... maybe not enough," Martha said sorrowfully.

"No. Too much. That's the truth of it. She was too much like me," he sighed. With a brief kiss to her forehead, he lowered her to the ground and stepped toward the general, picking up Cobb's weapon on his way over.

Donna and Martha stared in horror and made to stop him. Rose shook her head. "Let him go."

The Doctor pointed the weapon at Cobb for several heartbeats before throwing it away angrily and crouching down in front of the man, hissing furiously, "I never would. Have you got that? I never would!"

He stood and looked around, first at Rose, bent over their daughter and hugging her protectively, then at the two peoples gathered. "When you start this new world. This world of Human and Hath... remember that! Make the foundation of this society. A man who never would!"

It was nearly an hour later when he spoke again. The two armies had spoken and begun to repair relations and Martha and Donna had each cleaned up a bit. Cline, the unofficial leader of the Humans, stood near the grieving parents, along with representatives of both humans and Hath.

"It's happening. The terraforming," Martha told them, her tone respectful and so very sad.

Donna stared out a window at the process. "Build a city, nice and safe underground. Strip away the top soil. And there it is… And what about Jenny?"

Cline coughed softly. "Let us give her a proper ceremony. I think it'd help us. Please."

Rose looked up, tear stains on her face. "No. She doesn't need a ceremony."

"Ma'am…" the soldier said, taking a step back. "Your… your eyes…"

The Doctor snapped his eyes up. "Rose… don't!"

Martha and Donna both turned and gasped as Rose began to glow.

"She's my child," the blonde said, her voice beginning to echo with the thrum of Bad Wolf. "The only daughter I'll ever have. I can't just let this be her end."

"Rose," he choked out, "please… I can't loose you…"

"You won't."

There was a burst of gold, and Jenny began to glow also, the golden fire of her regeneration soon overtaking that of her mother. Everyone shielded their eyes until it was safe to look, and the moment he could get near, the Doctor gathered Rose into his arms. She was unconscious but still breathing.

"The Goddess…" Cline gasped. "The One who brings life… she…"

Martha knelt, checking the pulse of a sleeping child, wearing army issued clothing that nearly swallowed her. "She's fine. She's… she's just a little girl, but she's okay."

She moved to Rose's side, checking her as well. "I think we should get them both to the TARDIS."

He stood, lifting Rose and looking at the much younger form of Jenny. "Martha… do you mind to carry her? I… I can't get them both."

She scooped the girl up and followed him silently, Donna hurrying after to open the doors. Cline followed the group and stopped Donna before she went in after the others.

"Please, tell the Doctor… we will never forget them. The Goddess who breathed new life, the Healer of our people, or their Child, who was willing to give her life so we could live."

Donna smiled at him, wondering how many times the Doctor had accidentally written the theology of a planet and its people. "I'll tell him. You lot just… be better. No matter what happens, always try to be better."

She went into the box she called home just as the Doctor was sending them into the time vortex.

"Rose has time running through her," he explained, mostly as a way of distracting himself. "She'll heal faster in the vortex."

"And Jenny?" Martha asked.

He turned. "I… I don't know… if she were fully Time Lord, I'd say the Zero Room… but…"

"With us," Rose murmured from the jump seat where she'd been place.

"Sure you oughta be talking?" Donna asked, moving closer.

Rose gave a half smile, sitting up slightly. The Doctor was at her side in a moment.

"I'm going to be fine, she's helping," the obviously exhausted woman said. "Jenny needs to be near us, until she wakes up."

Martha stepped closer, still holding her. "She looks about 10, I'd say."

"She wanted to know what it would have been like to grow up with us as her parents," Rose yawned, barely able to keep her eyes open. "So when I triggered her regeneration, she chose to be younger."

The Doctor cupped her cheek. "You could have killed yourself," he whispered fiercely, trying to control himself. "You could have lost control, like you did with Jack…"

Rose leaned into his palm. "I had to try. She's our daughter. Biologically yours, biologically mine. If it was possible, I had to try to keep her with us. We may never have another chance to have a family."

He pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead. "Don't you know I could have been happy with just you for the rest of our lives?"

She smiled softly. "I know. But having met her… we couldn't have forgotten her."

He nodded. "I'm not happy," he told her seriously. "But we'll discuss it later."

"I love you, my Doctor," she said simply.

He sighed. "I love you, my Rose. I think you and our little girl should sleep for a while."

"That sounds lovely."

Before long, a haggard looking Doctor sat in the console room with Martha and Donna while mother and daughter slept in his bedroom.

"Jenny was the reason for the TARDIS bringing us here. It just got here too soon, which then created Jenny in the first place. Paradox. An endless paradox," he informed them.

"They think you're gods now," Donna let him know.

He nodded, a slight smirk on his face. "Not the first. Remember Pompeii?"

She grinned and looked at their friend. "They thought Rose was the goddess of Eternity and Time."

Martha laughed. "Well, now you have a little girl, Doctor. Good thing she kept herself old enough to run."

Donna laughed at the Time Lord, who sat blinking in sudden realization. "I have a wife… and a daughter… good lord, I've gone domestic."

The two women laughed richly, glad that things had worked out after all, and that their friends now had a chance to have a family for a while.

He shook himself slightly and nodded to Martha. "Time to go home?"

"Yeah. Home," Martha nodded.

He dropped them there and gave her a quick hug. He still didn't care for goodbyes, and excused himself to go check on his girls. His girls… it had a nice ring to it.

Donna walked Martha out. "You sure about this?"

The black woman nodded, smiling nostalgically. "Yeah, positive. Much as I love them, I can't do this anymore. You'll be the same one day."

The redhead laughed. "Not me. Never! How could I ever go back to normal life after seeing all this? I'm gonna travel with those people forever."

The two women hugged tight.

"Good luck," Martha said sincerely. "I'm so glad I met you, Donna Noble."

"And you, Martha Jones," Donna returned with conviction. "I never thought I'd be a woman who was friends with doctors and aliens and goddesses, but I guess I am."

The human doctor laughed and shook her head. "You're brilliant, you are. Take care of them for me? And make sure our new little niece comes down and gets to know me, yeah?"

"Our niece," Donna grinned. "I like that. I'll see to it."


A/N: Well, there's my take on this episode. Anyone surprised by my twist? Are you happy? Disappointed? Frustrated with me? Leave a note and let me know! If not for your feedback, it would be very hard to continue on this journey!